“Jingle bells, jingle bells, coding every day…” Forgive us for leading in with the office Christmas song, but we’re officially pumped for cake and eggnog in our swivel chairs. The Code Guy’s workload is ramped up this time of year, meaning we’re working like elves to get everything done before the festive break.
Also, around now, we like to surprise our clients with solutions they didn’t expect, those that give their websites a fresh look for the year ahead. Has your developer got an early present for you? It could be one of the following features:
1. An inviting search box
Some sites are packed with enough content to sink a virtual ship. If you’re transferring masses of written work over to your new, online portal, then a search bar is just what’s required to cut the fat out of the user’s experience. Ecommerce shops in particular should have a simple and intuitive search function.
2. Motion UI
Moveable backgrounds are very much in vogue right now. They really add something special to your homepage: whether that’s a shifting field of grass, a time lapse of the setting sun or some kind of calming liquid motion, there’s little as effective for grabbing a browser from the off.
3. Unique page navigation
Not every website should be a cookie-cutter list of bracketed ‘service’ and ‘about us’ pages at the top of the screen. Depending on how quirky you’d like your branding to be, coders can cement alternatives such as a spiralling group of link buttons in the middle, all unified and relating to each other by way of their physical immediacy. Single scroll features are another hot topic – basically, they filter everything into one page, optimised for mobile.
4. Select video placement
You may have mentioned to your developer that video is something you want to consider, and left it at that. If they’re on-point with the industry, they’ll know that dynamic content is rocketing up the scale of what makes for a great online business. They don’t have to overdo video implementation – cluttered media add-ons will slow down the user’s load time – yet a cleverly placed video or two will add a brilliant flavour to your website.
5. Insider knowledge
It’s always useful to know how people are responding to your site, and where they look the most. Developers can facilitate real-time analytic reports on your web or app platform. This could lay out your average audience size over a given week, click rates, and how long people spend on a page, as well as crossing over into live media functionality for the users themselves to enjoy.
Good coding isn’t just for Christmas, but it’s always a bonus when your developer surprises you with a lightbulb idea, especially with the New Year just ahead. Is your agency or freelancer doing all they can for you? 2017 might be the time to make some changes, in which case contact the Code Guy for all your digital needs to be met with a neat, inventive bow on top…